I need a laptop but Apple says wait 2 months! What are my options?

[msafi]

I'm looking for a 16" 64GB ram, 1TB drive.

I've had a 14" on order for awhile. It'll get here on April 28th. But now I decided that I want the 16", which I would have to wait until end of May to receive. I wouldn't mind waiting if my current MacBook Pro wasn't absolutely trounced by the apps I have to run. I thought about abusing Amazon's 30-day return policy by ordering one of their stocked MacBook Pros but even if I did that I would have to return the loaner laptop almost a full month before my new laptop gets here...

I blame Klaus Schwab for these delays. I'm pretty sure it's all part of his evil plans lol

But anyway, I wouldn't mind making do with any half decent laptop while I wait for my custom laptop to arrive. Do I have any options? Like can I borrow a laptop for two months from somewhere?

 

[barkomatic]

It's that 64GB of ram that is holding it up. Do you really need that? If you can make do with 32GB, the stores in my area at least have pickup tomorrow--if you're close to an Apple store. Oddly, shipping is indeed in late May.

 

[msafi]

It's that 64GB of ram that is holding it up. Do you really need that? If you can make do with 32GB, the stores in my area at least have pickup tomorrow--if you're close to an Apple store. Oddly, shipping is indeed in late May.

I'm in San Diego, California. All stores here are out of the 32GB. Pick up available May 9. The 64GB version is 2 more weeks on top of that.

 

[velocityg4]

Keep checking your local Microcenter if you have one. Also keep checking BHPhotoVideo. Each sometimes has custom configs in stock. Until then. Place your order with Apple. Cancel it if something else becomes available first.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I'm looking for a 16" 64GB ram, 1TB drive.

I've had a 14" on order for awhile. It'll get here on April 28th. But now I decided that I want the 16", which I would have to wait until end of May to receive. I wouldn't mind waiting if my current MacBook Pro wasn't absolutely trounced by the apps I have to run. I thought about abusing Amazon's 30-day return policy by ordering one of their stocked MacBook Pros but even if I did that I would have to return the loaner laptop almost a full month before my new laptop gets here...

I blame Klaus Schwab for these delays. I'm pretty sure it's all part of his evil plans lol

But anyway, I wouldn't mind making do with any half decent laptop while I wait for my custom laptop to arrive. Do I have any options? Like can I borrow a laptop for two months from somewhere?

Costco does 90 days returns so get something from there and you should have plenty time until your BTO MBP arrives.

 

[Elcuria]

Consider the Apple Refurbished store. Last Friday and up until yesterday there were 4-6 models combos available.

Today (Tuesday 04/05), there are now four PAGES of refurbished models/combos. Just picked up a 14" MacBook Pro Max 10/24 32Gb/4Tb and will pick it up on Thursday. Saved quite a bit vs. new. The CPU is overkill for my needs, but after doing some additional calculations, selected the 32Gb memory as I have LOTS of tabs open at any given time.

There's some 16" Max 64Gb / 1Tb models available.

 

[VideoFreek]

If you're willing to shell out another grand, B&H has a 16" 10/32 core, 64GB/ 4TB model in stock right now. Hey, it's only money!

 

[chabig]

Like can I borrow a laptop for two months from somewhere?

I found this place. They rent computers. I'm sure there are other companies that also rent.

Laptop Rentals for Business | 100% Best Price Guarantee

Rent laptops for events & meetings. PC and Mac. Custom imaging, bulk pricing. Nationwide delivery. Call (877) 633-8866

meetingtomorrow.com

 

[powerslave65]

Apple refurb store. Great deals!

 

[The Game 161]

do you have to get it from apple? aren't there other stores to get it quicker?

 

[Fishrrman]

If you can't get a 64gb right away...
If you can't get a 32gb right away...
... then you're just gonna have to wait until the order comes in.

Hmmmm....
The Apple refurbished online store has a number of 16" versions with 32gb of RAM.
Have you given any thought to buying there...?

 

[pshufd]

There's a Studio Max in NYC for sale asking $2,999. I looked at the offer and it's your bog standard base Mac Studio. So why are they selling it for 50% over MSRP? My guess is that they think that people have to wait to get them and that they will pay a premium to get them right away. You can actually get the Studio Max base model same day or the next day in my area at the Apple Stores. But some might be doing this with the BTO MacBook Pros. It's kind of like GPU scalping which has been with us for two years now.

 

[msafi]

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone!

So it looks like I've found a solution.

This morning I went to the Apple Store. My plan was to buy whatever is in stock, and then once I have that, I would immediately use it as a trade-in for a custom order, and see how much I would lose with that scenario. When I described my plan to the nice rep at the store, he gave me a much better option. He said I could buy the stock model, go home and order the custom model, then come back every 13 days to renew the return window until my custom laptop arrives. So that's what I did!

Thanks again for all the help everyone!

 

[Sanpete]

come back every 13 days to renew the return window until my custom laptop arrives.

I don't follow. You get an extension as long as you have one on order?

 

[msafi]

I don't follow. You get an extension as long as you have one on order?

Sorry, my wording was pretty bad.

So this isn't like something they usually do. Their return window is 14 calendar days. But if I bring this laptop back in 13 days, they'll pretend like I returned it and bought it again; thereby renewing my 14 day return window. And I can do that until my real laptop arrives.

He said they understand that I'm a software developer and need a custom machine and their lead times are unusually long, so that's what they can do.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Wow that's nice of them.

My local apple store always has a almost fully decked out MBP in stock (if it sells it can take them a week to re-stock it). So, a 14' MBP M1 Max - 2TB 64GB, or a 16' MBP 4TB 64GB - and base models. Sometimes it'll have a 32GB in stock but those sell pretty quickly if I catch them. Looks like a LOT of them are in stock here (southern CA) in the last week.

 

[msafi]

By the way, I've been using this 16" 16GB laptop for several hours and running all my development apps, Google Chrome with a bunch of tabs, and it's not slowing down one bit. I'm thinking I might actually save myself some money and just get a 16GB version with upgraded drive space.

I'm surprised that going from 8GB on my 13" MacBook Pro M1 to 16GB in this MacBook Pro makes that much of a difference. The older laptop literally takes a few seconds to CMD+TAB between apps. I would've said something about it is broken, but my wife's Air from the same generation is also bad like that. But this one with only 16GB runs very smooth!